What can help –
practical advice

There are ways to manage body changes to help you feel better about your appearance. Your doctor or nurse can also give you information and practical advice. They'll tell you about any possible options, such as reconstructive surgery. They can explain how to manage certain side effects of treatment.

Reconstructive surgery, such as breast reconstruction, can be done immediately or years later. It may be possible to have surgery to improve the appearance of a scar. A prosthesis that doesn’t fit well or isn’t the right colour can be changed. Treatment late effects, such as lymphoedema, can also usually be improved.

There are lots of ways to cover up hair loss. You could wear wigs, hats or scarves. You can draw on your eyebrows or use false eyelashes if needed. Boots Macmillan Bbeauty Aadvisors can help with this and give you advice about looking after your skin, nails and hair.

Camouflage make-up can help cover up skin grafts or scars. You can use different clothing to help you cover up or draw attention away from changes.

Getting information

Before treatment, your cancer doctor and nurse will give you information to prepare you for your treatment and how it is likely to affect you. They’ll talk about any options, such as reconstructive surgery, and help you make decisions. They can also:

tell you about possible side effects and what may help, such as cold cap treatment that may help reduce hair loss

refer you to other members of the team, for example occupational therapists, physiotherapists or speech and language therapists

refer you for services such as counselling if you think that would be helpful

arrange for a second opinion about your treatment if you feel this would be useful.

It’s important to let your cancer doctor or nurse know if you have concerns about your body image at any point during or after your treatment. There are different ways they can help and support you.

Reconstructive surgery

If you feel less confident and attractive because of an operation that has changed your appearance, it may be possible to have further surgery to improve it.

For example, women who have had a mastectomy can have breast reconstruction. This can be done straight away or years after the first operation. It can help women feel more confident, feminine and sexually attractive. Women who had surgery to remove only part of the breast can also have surgery to improve the shape of their breast. Your specialist or breast care nurse will talk to you about this. They can refer you to a specialist surgeon.

Improving the appearance of a scar

Scars usually improve in appearance in the months after your operation. If a scar doesn’t look better, ask your surgeon if there is anything that can be done to help. It may be possible to have surgery to make it less noticeable. Doctors call this scar revision. A surgeon can do this under a general anaesthetic. They can also sometimes do it under a local anaesthetic, where you have an injection to make the area numb.

You usually have to wait at least six months after your first operation to have scar revision.

Prosthesis

If you wear any type of prosthesis (false body part) and don’t feel confident, talk to your nurse or doctor. The prosthesis may not be the right fit, type or colour match for you. They can arrange for you to be reassessed, even if your prosthesis is still in good condition. If you have had the prosthesis for a while, there may be new, improved types available.

Weight gain or weight loss

Some cancer treatments may cause you to gain or lose weight. This can be upsetting and cause body image concerns.

Steroids are often given with chemotherapy or hormonal therapy. They can cause weight gain. Some people lose weight if they can’t eat enough because of symptoms, treatments, or their side effects.

Ask your specialist nurse or dietitian for advice. It’s not recommended that you try to lose weight on purpose during cancer treatment. After treatment, when you feel ready, you can look at ways of managing your weight by eating healthily and being more physically active.

If you have lost weight, it’s important to get advice from a dietitian. There are different ways to add calories to food and nutritional drinks and powders to help build up your weight.

Late treatment effects

Late treatment effects, such as lymphoedema or bladder or bowel changes, often affect body image. There are usually things that can be done to improve and to manage them so you feel more confident.

If you are having problems with lymphoedema, contact your lymphoedema specialist nurse. If you don’t have one, ask your doctor to refer you. Some people may need their support sleeve or stocking re-fitted. Or they might need new advice on managing lymphoedema.

If you have bladder or bowel late treatment effects, it’s important to talk to your doctor or nurse. They can refer you to other healthcare professionals for advice and possible treatments.

refer you for a replacement part (prosthesis), for example a breast prosthesis.

Hair loss

If you choose to cover your head, there are lots of ways you can do it, for example using wigs, hats, turbans, scarves and bandanas. Some chemotherapy drugs make you lose all your body hair, eyelashes and eyebrows. Boots Macmillan beauty advisors can help you draw on eyebrows or use false eyelashes.

Your hair will usually grow back over a few months once you’ve finished treatment. It will be very fine at first and may be a slightly different colour or texture than before. You’ll probably have a full head of hair after 3–6 months.

Look Good Feel Better (LGFB)

This charity has trained volunteer beauty professionals who run free workshops for women and teenagers coping with cancer treatment. Workshops are available in over 80 hospitals and specialist cancer centres across the UK. Ask your nurse or doctor for a referral or visit the LGFB website to find one in your area.

LGFB USA has a cancer care website specifically for men. It gives advice about shaving, skin care and how to unwind and relax.

Camouflage make-up

If you have had skin grafts (skin replaced with skin from another part of the body), the colour may not match your surrounding skin. Or you may have visible scars you’d like to cover up. Using camouflage make-up can help.

Changing Faces has trained skin camouflage practitioners. They find the best colour match for your skin tone and teach you how to apply the specialist waterproof cover creams and powders. You can get these on prescription. Changing Faces runs clinics across the UK.

If you wear a prosthetic and it doesn’t match your camouflage make-up, go back and see the person who supplied it. They can match the colour to your camouflage make-up.

Clothing

You can use clothes and accessories to feel comfortable and good about yourself and to cover up certain body changes. What you wear is also a way of expressing yourself. You can look at the clothes you already have to see what’s suitable. Ask a family member or friend to help you.

Depending on the body change you have, you can get advice on clothing from support organisations, for example Breast Cancer Care, Changing Faces, the Colostomy Association, the Ileostomy & Internal Pouch Support Group or the National Association of Laryngectomee Clubs. Online community forums are also a good place to get advice.

Here are some tips that might help:

If you have had surgery to the tummy area, have swollen legs or have put on weight, trousers with drawstring or elasticated waists or flat-front trousers are good.

Long skirts, with or without slits, or wrap skirts can be a good alternative to trousers.

If you have had a mastectomy and were used to wearing lower-cut dresses before it, try wearing them with a camisole top underneath.

High V-neck shirts help if you want to cover a scar or central line in the chest area.

Thanks

We rely on a number of sources to gather evidence for our information. If you’d like further information on the sources we use, please feel free to contact us on: bookletfeedback@macmillan.org.uk

All our information is reviewed by cancer or other relevant professionals to ensure that it’s accurate and reflects the best evidence available. We thank all those people who have provided expert review for the information on this page.

Our information is also reviewed by people affected by cancer to ensure it is as relevant and accessible as possible. Thank you to all those people who reviewed what you're reading and have helped our information to develop.

You could help us too when you join our Cancer Voices Network – find out more at: http://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancervoices

We make every effort to ensure that the information we provide is accurate and up-to-date but it should not be relied upon as a substitute for specialist professional advice tailored to your situation. So far as is permitted by law, Macmillan does not accept liability in relation to the use of any information contained in this publication or third party information or websites included or referred to in it.